The Washington critic., 1887-01-06
wA.n1NoroN. JANrAny Q. -
THE SFOILs or OFFICE AS THEY
LOOK TO MIR. DANA.


corruption and going TO wreck on the
spoilsI sollico-eyils that have their
orlin for the most part in the primary |
me,ung or nominating convention sys'
TEN. Various remedies have been sug |
gested-the lcgalliliiou Of The caucus,
the substitution OF majority for plural
i,y rule, the principle or minority rep
lesentatlou, a diminuuon In the num-
Der of ccctioua-bul none have proved
wholly satisfactory
The difficulty, we are told, Is not
altogether with The mere machinery Of
the caucus or the ballot boN. 1t is the
body polite which has been suffering
from the lavish use Of patronage and
el,ctioneering funds, and the only
effective cure for this species of blood
poisoning is to be sought in Civil
Service Reform, whereby to cut down
the supply Of oilcca, and in statutory
restrictions Of the use Of money in the
interest of candidates, as is the English
fashion.
That the element of corruption
should be eliminated from our party
politics is much to be desired, and good
citizens will approve any plan that may
be devised for securing fairer repre-
sentation of the popular will and pre-
venting the bargain and sale of votes.
But in the pursuit Of this inquiry, Mr..
Dana vastly exaggerates the evils with
which the country is threatened by the
spoils system, and in so doing confutes
his own argument for the necessity Of
heroic nostrums.
He cites for instance the Tweed "af-
fair" the "boodle' Aldermen Of New
York, the corrupt city government of
Philadelphia, and so on, to prove that
with few exceptions" we are not rep.
resented by our best stmen-"nay, not by
men of average honesty, intelligence
and uprightness ss'-and we seem I'M
able to improve our condition.
Fortunately for the common veal,
but unfortunately for Mr.. Dana, his
premises are not sound, Glaring and
numerous as instances of municipal
corruption may be, 1t is susceptible of
easy proof that the great majority of
our towns and cities are honestly gov
erned, that our State Government, as
arule, are wisely conducted; that even
the National Government, considering
its tremendous strains aud trial., has
been fairly well administered. The
members of the various State legisla.
tures and of the Federal Congress, as
general thing, are men of integrity
and sense.
Again, to further impress us with
the enormity of the spnils oystem, Mr..
Dana says there are about ll5, 900 ap-
pointiv1 offices under the Federal
Government given, for the most part,
us rewards for political work,
amounting in salaries to an aggregate
Of $50, 100000 year. To make this
statement more startling, he figures II
out thSt the annual income furnished
by these offices represents, at five per
cent. a capital Of about 81 GOO ,00O,0JC
-"quite comfortable support" fol
our strikers, "heelers" and "bosses'
10 live for and work In the hope of. u
Argument of this sort is misleading
and unfair, 1t is the argument of 9
charlatan. What If there are ,00C
men and women earning subsistence
in the employment of the Government
We doubt If the number is greater
than the need. Put 5000 office.
holders in row and they would make
long line. But what are 11J, 900 office
holders to 10000, 900 people2 Is it O
dangerous proportion2 What fraction
would they be of voting population
Of 100000? Would it be a fraction
ominous of degeneraoy and disasteri
What mighty terror in spoils system
that doles out average salaries of less
tLnn 500 year!
No, Mr.. Dana, the country Is moi
going 10 the dogs on account of a sur.
plus Of Government clerks or plague
Of dishonest politicians. Our people
may be slow TO detect corruption, but
once detecting It they mete out swift
and terrible retribulion, They may be
slow to realize danger, but once recog.
niaing II they are prompt TO repel It's
approaches. Even the awful doctrine
that to the vlcloIs belong the spoils has
never been able to bulge the pillars OF
the Constitution an zach.
Tie Commonwealth Is no utopiau
dream. 1t is a great and powerful ma.
tion and as long as 1t remains re-
public it will be a nation of parties
contending for the lonors and emolu
ments of the government. If there l.
danger in this, its normal condition, 4
will find in the common sense of tht
people, rather than in the localities o.
civil'service reform, a nevcr-failinl
fortress.
a CORRESPONDENT suggests thai
general want of confidence In Congress
4 ~. A 1 + At.